(Cleveland, February 11, 2016) – Manufacturers continue to face challenges hiring and maintaining a skilled workforce; however, over half say they do not have a company-wide plan for addressing skills gap issues. Finding new ways for senior leadership to develop, measure and deliver critical training to employees – to achieve high yield results – will be the focus of Tooling U-SME’s fifth annual tuXperience conference March 7-9, 2016, at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Advancements in technologies, reshoring, and attracting and retaining Millennial employees will be some of the topics discussed at the conference for human resource and C-Suite executives.

Through collaborative discussions and breakout Q&A sessions, tuXperience conference attendees will learn how to overcome workforce issues by aligning training programs with their company’s business goals. Participants will hear from long-time Tooling U-SME customers who successfully deployed workforce training solutions that increased growth at their companies. They will also have the opportunity to network with peers and compare their workforce development programs with top performing manufacturers.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Jim Kirkpatrick, senior consultant at Kirkpatrick Partners, and creator of the New World Kirkpatrick Model. During his keynote address, “Getting to Kirkpatrick® Levels 3 and 4: Creating Believable Value,” Kirkpatrick will share his insights on how to structure training initiatives to enhance on-the-job performance and impact business results. This session will emphasize how training must reinvent itself and transcend the classroom.

“Critical Building Blocks with Tooling U-SME for Launching New Programs”

“Measuring Business Impact: Critical Metrics & Other Program Requirements”

“Community Involvement and Other Collaborative Partnerships”

“I have been involved with Tooling U-SME for more than ten years and was thrilled with what I learned and experienced at the last tuXperience,” said Gary Miller, director of Training and Occupational Development at SGS Tool Company. “At the breakout sessions, I learned better ways of reporting to save time and energy; I also learned some extremely useful tips through networking with other attendees.”

“But, best of all, the opportunity to share ideas and best practices with other manufacturing companies… priceless,” adds Miller.

“The purpose of the tuXperience is to help leaders identify results-driven training solutions that can meet key company objectives and bridge the manufacturing skills gap,” says Jeannine Kunz, director, Tooling U-SME. “Our panel of nationally recognized training experts deliver thought-provoking insights to help manufacturers solve some of their biggest workforce challenges.”

The tuXperience conference welcomes current Tooling U-SME customers as well as manufacturing and industrial employers interested in sharing and building workforce solutions. The cost per person to attend the conference is $895. To learn more about the tuXperience, visit: toolingu.com/x/

About Tooling U-SME
Tooling U-SME delivers versatile, competency-based learning and development solutions to the manufacturing community, working with more than half of all Fortune 500® manufacturing companies, as well as educational institutions across the country. Tooling U-SME partners with customers to build high performers who help their companies drive quality, productivity, innovation and employee satisfaction. Working directly with hundreds of high schools, community colleges, and universities, Tooling U-SME is also able to help prepare the next generation workforce by providing industry-driven curriculum. A division of SME, an organization that connects people to manufacturing solutions, Tooling U-SME can be found at toolingu.com, facebook.com/toolingu or follow @ToolingU on Twitter.

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If you have questions about the press release or need additional information, please contact SME Public Relations at communications@sme.org.